Emily walked beside Lusian as they prepared to depart for the isolated cities. Her eyes moved across the walls, the markets, and the newly cleared roads. The mana in the air felt dense and vibrant, as if every particle anticipated the dangers waiting beyond the visible horizon.
The entire royal contingent departed at dawn. Princess Elizabeth, as the supreme commander of her forces, led the march with determination, her figure at the head of the column projecting both authority and calm to the soldiers behind her. Lusian rode at her side, silent, evaluating every detail: routes, potential ambush points, signs of abnormal mana.
The Empire's heroes were spread among the troops, ready to intervene but maintaining a calculated distance. Each of them followed orders that only Lusian or Elizabeth had the authority to give.
Night still cloaked the forests and plains when they arrived at the first city trapped by monsters. From afar, the walls appeared intact, but the buildings inside were buried beneath layers of frost and packed snow. The silence was absolute, broken only by the faint groans of the survivors.
The Empire's heroes moved in small caravans, calculating each step, maintaining distance and coordination. Lusian did not need them for this phase of the operation. His darkness magic made him nearly invisible, and Umber could neutralize any minor threat without alerting the villagers.
"If we push too hard, the buildings will collapse," Cael warned.
Emily, seeing the starving villagers trembling with almost no hope left, murmured softly,
"This is worse than we expected…"
Leonardo lowered his voice.
"Even with all our strength, we won't be able to save everyone at once."
Lusian did not reply.
From the shadows, he moved like a seasoned predator. Umber eliminated minor monsters before any villager even realized they were there. It was pure efficiency.
"Emily, coordinate the survivors," Lusian ordered. "We'll open the main routes. Distribute supplies. Quickly."
Everything advanced with surgical precision.
Streets cleared.Monsters eliminated without panic.Shelters reopened.
From the shadows, Lusian watched. Umber moved beside him, an invisible black blur among the ruins. Whenever a lesser monster blocked a vital passage, Lusian gave the command. Within seconds, Umber erased the threat without the villagers noticing. Thunder remained behind, storing electrical energy, ready to act if the situation worsened.
From afar, the Heralds observed the reports delivered through magical messengers. Their silence was heavy. The scale of Lusian's power filled them with both urgency and uncertainty—they did not know whether they could truly control or direct him.
Emily approached Lusian in a narrow alley, gripping his arm.
"Lusian… are you sure you can handle this alone?" she asked, her voice a mixture of fear and trust.
He looked at her, barely visible within the darkness.
"As long as it is night, nothing is safe from me."
Emily exhaled slowly, clinging to that certainty.
Around them, the villagers began to move again, carrying provisions and reclaiming fragments of hope. Every cleared road was a small victory. Every life saved was a reminder that even unseen heroes could change the fate of an empire.
The convoy moved on toward the next city.
Elizabeth at the front.Lusian beside her.Umber and Thunder behind.
Lusian was the first to feel it.
A demonic whisper.Something familiar.Something that should not exist.
Somewhere within the ranks, Deidara remained among the troops, observing carefully. Her barely visible smile concealed far more than it revealed. Behind the operation, the Heralds trusted that their plans were unfolding without discovery.
The caravan advanced through the forests of Eldarion, the first light of dawn timidly filtering through the trees. Elizabeth rode at the front, surrounded by hundreds of elite soldiers, her eyes studying every movement of the terrain.
Lusian rode beside her. Thunder and Umber followed like living shadows. His attention was divided between protecting the princess and scanning for threats.
The air was thick with residual mana, an echo of the monsters that had ravaged the region days earlier. Then Lusian felt something strange—a whisper of darkness unlike any creature he had faced before.
His gaze swept across the tree line, searching for its source.
Elizabeth did not question him.
She trusted him too much for that.
Lusian took a small detachment and disappeared into the forest. The dark mana vibrated like the echo of a coming threat.
For a fraction of a second, he felt as if the air itself tasted like farewell.
He ignored it.
He would pay for that.
Vhar'zhul was waiting.
The demon emerged from the shadows, more aggressive than before. Vhar'zhul had been summoned again. Lusian's heart tightened.
How many times must I defeat you, demon? he thought as he advanced.
The battle was brutal, swift, and devastating.
Dainslein pierced its core.Umber tore through its ethereal throat.Thunder shattered its physical form.
Without losing a second, Lusian ran back toward the caravan. His breathing was heavy, his heart beating with urgency.
But something froze his blood.
Elizabeth was no longer there.
Lusian felt his heartbeat distort.
Umber lunged forward.Thunder gathered power.He moved—
But time chose not to move with him.